The concept of Women Empowerment probably failed to reach the masses in the 2014 Assembly polls. Among the 111 women, contesting candidates from 81 constituencies, nine managed to win seats out of which four were re-elected. In the last held assembly polls as well the strength was similar.
like men, in women also Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) influenced the public at large since four the party bagged the winning positions. The list included louise Marandi, Gangotri Kujur, Maneka Sardar, Neera Yadav and Vimla Pradhan from Dumka, Mandar, Potka, Koderma and Simdega constituencies respectively.
Former Chief Minister Madhu Koda’s wife Geeta Koda representing Jai Bharat Samanta Party won from Jagannathpur while Joba Manjhi along with Sita Soren and Nirmala Devi won in Manoharpur, Jama and Barkagaon segments. Both Manjhi and Soren hail from Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) whereas Devi belongs to Congress.
In the public known faces, new comers who contested polls for the first time were Jharkhand State Commission for Women chairperson Mahua Maji of JMM and Seema Sharma of BJP contesting from Ranchi. For Doctor cum veteran Congress leader’s PK Balmuchu’s daughter Cinderella representing Ghatsila and Indian Idol fame Puja Chatterjee of Congress from Bagodar also it was a first time experience. Unfortunately, they failed to win the hearts of people.
All the mentioned women had put their best efforts in gathering votes through padhyatras and other means of campaigning. The election indicates a ‘change’ with prominent leaders Geetashree Oraon (Congress), Annapurna Devi (Rashtriya Janata Dal) and Sudha Chaudhary (Janta Dal United) losing from Sisai, Koderma and Chhatarpur seats after a long time. The three ladies have remained an established MlAs in their respective assembly segments.
Meanwhile, the list of nine women who won in 2009 assembly polls included Sudha Chaudhary, Geeta Koda, Sita Soren, Chandrika Mahtha of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik), Kunti Devi of BJP, Annapurna Devi, Vimla Pradhan, Geetashree Oraon and Maneka Sardar. Overall 1, 136 candidates including men and women had tried their luck in this election.
Interestingly, the number of women voter turnout was comparatively far more than the contesting women candidates. Also, the fair sex voter participation was more than men here. 63.7 percent women had cast votes this time. In 2009, it was merely 54.53 percent.